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MERRILL WAGNER TO OPEN SEPT. 9 AT LESLEY HELLER GALLERY IN NYC

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NEW YORK CITY — The works of Merrill Wagner will be on view September 9–October 18 at Lesley Heller Gallery. Working at the intersection of abstraction, process art and landscape, Wagner’s work seamlessly integrates a range of influences into a body of work that is focused and cohesive, personal, yet reserved.

To create her abstractions on steel, Wagner begins with either a 4-by-8-foot sheet of hot rolled steel, or scraps of metal found at a plumbing and appliance repair shop near her country home in Pennsylvania. With these metal objects serving as a ground that is neither canvas nor blank, Wagner allows the steel’s inherent properties to inform and catalyze her compositions. Her choice of rust-preventive paint as a medium creates a deliberate harmony of strata and substrate, given the works an aura of stability, calm and inevitability.

Whether allowing the reflective surface of a new sheet of steel to suggest distance and transform a horizontal form into a horizon, or using the accidental effects of scratches, corrosion and patina to give depth to a bordered form, Wagner draws out the properties of her found surfaces. Her works on canvas continue this investigation of the accidental suggestions that are hidden in materials. Intrigued by the slight variations in shade, texture and intensity among tubes of the same color of oil paint, she works intently to explore the muted, subtly varied color palette that results from these tiny degrees of inconsistency.

These abstractions, whether on steel or canvas, convey a sense of balance that borders on neutrality: brushwork is neither concealed nor overly emphasized; suggestions of landscape are neither confirmed nor negated. Wagner’s disciplined sense of composition, interest in materials and underlying aesthetic, tempered with a reserve that stops just short of negation, unites the works in a realm of cool, mathematical abstraction tempered with human warmth.

The gallery it as 16 East 77th Street, ground floor. For more information, 212-410-6120 or www.lesleyheller.com.